Blue Box Ins and Outs Niagara Region July 23, 2013 Campaign - PDF document

WMAC Meeting Blue Box Ins and Outs Niagara Region July 23, 2013 Campaign Objectives • Objectives: i. To reduce processing challenges associated with improperly prepared plastic bags and recyclable film plastics ii. To reduce the amount of inappropriate, unacceptable plastics that end up at the recycling centre, such as plastic toys, rubber hoses and other unacceptable plastic items iii. To educate and inform residents of Niagara Region’s expanded plastic recycling program now that all numbered plastic containers and packaging are accepted (1 through 7). 1

WMAC Meeting Challenges at MRF • Congestion and jams on container incline: – large plastics such as lawn edging and garden hoses become entangled with bags of film and other containers • Increased residue rates: – entangled balls of material must be forced by sorters into the residue bunker chutes • Daily downtime and maintenance: – loose film becomes tangled in equipment – loose film is extremely difficult to remove due to high volume and ends up reducing revenues due to disposal costs Plastic Bags/Recyclable Film • Plastic bags and recyclable film should be placed in the Grey Box with paper and cardboard as it is recovered from the fibre sorting line easier than from the container sorting line. Plastic bags and film cross-contaminate the container stream. • Based on audit results conducted at the Niagara Region’s recycling centre in the fall of 2011, the residential co-mingle stream contained 6.3% recyclable film and plastic bags (by weight) that are better captured in the Grey Box. 2

WMAC Meeting Unacceptable Plastics • Continue to face challenges with unacceptable plastic items placed in the Blue Box. • Items include such things as large plastic toys, pool liners, children’s pools, lawn edging and children’s plastic vehicles . • Audit results show that the residential co-mingled container stream has an average contamination rate of 28% versus the residential fibre stream at 2.9%. Campaign Goals • To make it easier for Niagara residents to recycle by accepting all numbered or unmarked plastic containers and packaging. • To improve upon waste reduction by diverting more acceptable plastics into the Blue Box. • To communicate the proper preparation of recyclable film/plastic bags and eliminate unacceptable plastic items. • To create easy to understand messages that reduces recycling confusion, improves participation and improves proper segregation at the curb. 3

WMAC Meeting Key Campaign Messages 1. Recycling is easy in Niagara. 2. No need to look for the plastic resin code, all empty containers and empty plastic packaging are now accepted. 3. If it is not an empty container or it is not plastic packaging, it means it is not acceptable. 4. Properly preparing recyclables before they are picked-up makes recycling easier and the end material more valuable. Media releases Print and Radio Ads Videosign Ads Facebook Social Media Ads Recycle & Win Online Game/Contest Educational Videos Pop-up Banners and Handout Cards for distribution Regular Meetings with Collection Contractor Pre and post collection curbside audits MRF tipping floor visual audits Internal and external public outreach displays Neighbourhood campaign and audits Niagara Region newsletters Pre and post campaign composition audits 4

WMAC Meeting Print Advertisements – What’s IN Print Advertisements – What’s IN 5

WMAC Meeting Print Advertisements – What’s OUT Print Advertisements – What’s OUT 6

WMAC Meeting Print Advertisements – What’s OUT Video Sign Advertising The ‘Recycle & Win’ Game was digitally advertised on a video sign network for 13 weeks on 33 screens at the following locations: • Seaway Mall Food Court - Welland • Beamsville Food Court Complex • Grimsby Food and Service Centre • St. Catharines Bus Terminal • Niagara Falls Bus Terminal 7

WMAC Meeting Radio Ads Compartmentalized Containers • Campaign advertising was placed on six compartmentalized containers near highly utilized bus stops and malls in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. 8

WMAC Meeting Collection - Oops Sticker • An ‘Oops’ sticker was utilized to educate residents on why their recycling was not collected. • The sticker explained how residents should sort their recyclables correctly and helps ensure that contamination does not recur. Newsletter • Campaign promotion was also communicated using the Region’s GreenScene newsletter. • The GreenScene is delivered to all single family homes and apartments with 2-6 units in Niagara (> 156,000 units). 18 9

WMAC Meeting Curbside Visual Audits • Visual audits of the Blue and Grey Box recycling material were conducted at 1,000 randomly selected homes across Niagara region. Three visits were made to each house over the course of a three month period: o Initial curbside visual audit of Blue and Grey Boxes o Door-to-door survey; delivery of P&E material; and open discussion about the Blue Box campaign messages as well as any challenges observed in the initial audit o A second and final curbside visual audit to look for improvement over the initial audit Promotional Handout Card • Handout cards were distributed during the door-to-door visits as well as at all public events and booths. • Cards were also distributed to some collection staff to distribute to any residents or to leave behind in ‘problem’ resident recycling boxes that may learn from the message. 10

WMAC Meeting Gold Star Reward Program • Households that received high marks on material preparation and separation during the second round of curbside visual audits received a Gold Star decaled recycling box to recognize their efforts. • The Gold Star box was a visible and tangible reward. • Encouraged their neighbours to achieve Gold Star Recycler status as well. Gold Star Reward Program 11

WMAC Meeting Promotional Door Hangers Front Back Front Back 23 Recycle and Win! Online Game • The online Recycle and Win game tested recycling knowledge by asking participants to drag sample items into the proper container: Green Bin, Blue Box, Grey Box or Garbage. www.recycleandwin.ca 12

WMAC Meeting Website Updates 25 Promotional Banners 26 13

WMAC Meeting Engagement with Collection Contractor • Four meetings were held at the contractor’s head office to engage all collection staff with the key campaign messages and to reinforce the expectations of the collection contract. • Meetings were held at 6 am in order to reach crews prior to the start of daily collection. Open forum for questions. • A Q&A page was developed for staff which reinforced the Region’s expectations when dealing with unacceptable items. • Shared with staff: o Campaign promo materials o Recycle & Win Game o Results of tipping floor and curbside visual audits o Informational display boards Measure your Success How? • Number of Oops stickers utilized • Pre and Post curbside collection audits • Recycle and Win game participation – contest participants were asked to document where they learned of the game (i.e.: Radio, Video signs, Newsletters etc..) • Facebook clicks • Number of people reached at Outreach events/booths • Neighbourhood visual audit results • Comparison of pre and post composition audits 14

WMAC Meeting Evaluation – Oops Sticker Usage • In May and June, the collection contractor used the standard ‘Recycling Non - Compliance’ sticker, but after 2 months of the campaign, a more campaign specific sticker was developed to improve the clarity of the campaign messages. • The ‘Oops’ sticker began to be used in July and continues to be used. To date, over 60,000 stickers have been provided to the collection contractor for use. Evaluation – Pre/Post Curbside Collection Audits Container • Pre- full of collection lettuce inspection • Post- collection inspection Ceramic Loose film Urns - - tagged tagged 15

WMAC Meeting Evaluation – Recycle & Win Where Did People Find the Game? Views and Time on Page • Other 272 • 4487 Page views for the Game • VideoSign Ads 7 • 1m 59s Average time on Game page • Radio Ads 73 • Facebook Ads 195 Scores for the Correct answers • Informational booth 57 10 correct 316 • Print Ads 94 9 correct 251 • Promotional door hanger 33 8 correct 288 • Green Scene Newsletter 61 7 correct 226 Total 792 6 correct 170 5 correct 152 4 correct 73 3 correct 36 2 correct 12 1 correct 3 Total 1527 Evaluation - Facebook • A Facebook ad targeting Niagara Region residents proved to be the campaign’s number one source for traffic. • The ad ran from May 15 – Sept. 30, 2012. • The ad had over 13 million impressions, although there are no guarantees that it Fgdfgd was noticed each time. • The ad was clicked 3,310 times and had a click through rate (% of clicks vs. impressions) of 0.025%. Anything between 0.01 and 0.02 is considered normal. 16